How much cash will be spent on North Wales health services, roads, education and councils is due to be set out in a “challenging” budget today.

Finance Minister Jane Hutt will reveal the Welsh Government’s draft budget in an announcement expected to boost cash for health and social care across Wales.

Ms Hutt said what was in her red folder would stick to the Welsh Labour Government’s “priorities and principles” and deliver a “fairer, better Wales”.

But, ahead of the draft budget, councils have called on the minister to curb the rate of cuts to protect vital public services which are on the edge of a “cycle of terminal decline”.

The Welsh Local Government Association (WLGA) warned local authorities were close to “tipping point” and further cuts would put more libraries, care services, bin collections and leisure centres at risk.

WLGA leader Cllr Bob Wellington CBE said: “With councils facing the extremely daunting prospect of a £940m budget shortfall by 2020, the harsh reality is that if we continue with the level of funding reductions seen in recent years, we would quickly reach a tipping point at which vital local public services enter a cycle of terminal decline.”

Cllr Wellington called for investments in social care and education to reduce costs and pressure on the NHS.

Ms Hutt said the draft budget had been “extremely difficult and challenging” as the Welsh block grant had been cut by 3.6% in real terms by 2019-20 by the UK Government.

Speaking prior to today’s announcement, Ms Hutt said: “Clearly, protecting the public services that the people of Wales value most has been crucial.

“I can say that this budget is going to be a budget which is about delivering a fairer, better Wales, investing for the future.

“But also it has to be a budget for all generations, from our earliest years, where we know that if we want to tackle poverty we have to invest at the start of life.”

Last year, the Welsh Government struck a £223m two-year budget deal with the Welsh Liberal Democrats to allow it to pass in the Senedd.

This year, due to the lateness of the Chancellor’s Autumn Statement, the final budget is not expected to be put before AMs for vote until after the New Year.

Lib Dem AM Aled Roberts said the deal, which included extra spending on education and a bus pass for people between the ages of 16 and 18, showed they had used their influence to deliver a better deal for North Wales.

He said: “Because of the Welsh Lib Dems, schools in North Wales will be receiving over £13m in extra investment, which will help ensure that all children, no matter their background, get a fairer start in life.”